With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

Mr Zoat · Dec 12, 2022

Coda said:
New Gods' ships

Thank you, corrected.

_The_Bomb · Dec 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Now I have to work out what we're going to do about Grayven himself.

Feels like a pretty major crossroads for the rest of the war. It also will add some interesting interactions to the already highly-anticipated meeting between Paragon and Renegade.

Ostentatiousnessness · Dec 12, 2022

I was thinking about the situation back in Earth, and this feels like a Gold Morning level failure state for the planet.

I'm keen on seeing where you go from here, as you do tend to follow on from believable cause and effect and consequences for such titanic shifts to the world order, rather than returning to status quo by the next chapter.

Ngamer11 · Dec 12, 2022

Ostentatiousnessness said:
I was thinking about the situation back in Earth, and this feels like a Gold Morning level failure state for the planet.

I'm keen on seeing where you go from here, as you do tend to follow on from believable cause and effect and consequences for such titanic shifts to the world order, rather than returning to status quo by the next chapter.

I'm betting Earth is in the middle of outright war with Apokoliptian forces, is already trying to rebuild the world to something resembling the previous status quo, or the Justice League is forced to act as the temporary governing body of the entire planet.

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
1st January 2013
21:41 GMT

The second New God ship jerks sideways as the combined fire finally breaks the hull, atmosphere spurting out as the weapons on one side die entirely.

"Alright, Reach ships, move around so that it can't shoot you any more. I'll-."

Probably asking a lot of them, OL. Multiple maulings over the last day, several are dead in space, and the remaining active ones are... Scrapping them would be a kindness. As it is, the analysis process is likely to involve destructive processes anyway...

BOOM!

I brace for combat and reorientate my stolen ship's weapons-.

A squadron of five local ships emerge from the portal.

Ah. Bit late for the real fight, folks, but you can help clean up.

"Shipmaster Allyn requesting update from Illustres."

"Are you any good at boarding operations?"

"I've never had any complaints."

Not from people who mattered, I bet.

"The Grayven-aligned Ascendant warship that I don't control is crippled. We can destroy it by shooting it, but it would be helpful if we could capture it without destroying it so that you have something to base your battle cruisers on. And so that we don't have to kill the entire crew. Is that something you're willing to do?"

"How many Ascendants are there on board?"

If there were more than one, they'd probably have decamped for personal combat by now...

"As far as I can tell, just the ship master."

"Very well. Do you hear me, cousin?" "Know when you've lost."

Careful, guy is likely to be in quite a mood.

One turret rotates and fires a token shot at the leading ship of the formation. It misses.

"We will take the ship. Can you escort our Reach guests back to Minosyss?"

Defiant to the end, eh? I'm sure your name will be remembered...

Whoever you were.

"Wait one. Illustres to Reach vessels. Are you capable of movement?"

"Two ships are crippled and one is a wreck. We will need-."

Yes, noted. OL can handle those himself. Or would you rather he throw the lot of you to the planet?

"The other two ships will power down weapons and make best speed for Minosyss, whereupon they will follow the directions of local authorities. Crippled ships…"

I exert my desires upon-.

Better be sure to impress the importance of disarming. The home fleet won't be too happy if they see any live guns on approach.

I feel it as the construct ship master is destroyed and returns to my ring-. A-h. That's… Some memories I'll sort through later. But his awe of Grayven was very real. He… Ah, of course. Grayven is a lot more powerful than one of the Ascendants. They see him as Rhea's rightful successor because no one else has that sort of power. Nice to see them being consistent about might makes right; offering fealty to one more powerful than themselves as they demand it from mortals.

Ah, well. No visible impact of the guy's former metaphysique. I suppose that's because it got eaten by the assimilation process.

Hm.

"Illustres to currently-functional New God ship. I just assimilate this ship and its master. Does that mean I'm in charge?"

Or would they like to receive the same treatment? Answer quick, I doubt the Minosyssan Ascendants will be too gentle.

"No, wretch, it does not. AND WE-."

End.

Well, that's a pretty clear answer. I doubt being hung up on will make him any happier, either.

Ah, well. Let's see. Does this thing have a tractor beam, or nearest-? Yes, it does. Good. Still got the crew, but without another Ascendant they can't override my control. I impose my desire for the ship to acquire the crippled Reach ships, and… Yes. It's drive systems activate and it accelerates gradually towards them.

"I'm sending this ship over to tow them back. I'll clear the wreck myself. Get going."

Ah, good, no teething troubles. That'll make thing easier. Especially since his new ship is in fairly good shape.

Precision shots from the Ascendancy ships shoot out the surviving turrets on the Grayven-aligned ships, and-

BOOM!

-they're boom tubing on board to capture the ship. The Reach ships still more or less functional set course-.

Hold, on, Reach fellows. Your guns?

"What did I say about powering down your guns?"

"We do not have full control. Some systems are not responding. We could remain here until basic repairs have been-."

...Oh, no. You do not get to pull the 'technical difficulties' lark. And I doubt you're going to get so lucky as to have another Boom Tube open for you to flee...

"Send out marines, set charges and destroy any guns that won't power down before you arrive. I will leave instructions that you are to be destroyed if you have any remaining guns when you arrive."

Ring, plot route for them.

Pretty clear instructions. Let's hope they have the sense to follow them completely.

Compliance.

"Sending permitted route now. If you deviate from it, you will be destroyed. Get. Moving."

I'm sure someone will be monitoring their progress anyway...

I move away from my prize and head towards the wreck. Four escape pods were trying to hide in the shadow of their ship, and I use construct grapplers to seize them and thrust them in the direction of the closest crippled ship. They'll have time to get on board before my ship picks them up.

But the rest.

I suppose you should make some effort to collect them before they die of exposure, radiation or incineration...

Ring, try accessing any personal communication devices on that ship. Or just do a general broadcast.

Compliance.

And won't that result in a few jump scares for them. Good-o.

"Reach ship personnel, combat has been resolved in our favour. Your ship is crippled, and I do not believe that it can be made spaceworthy within a reasonable time frame. Please confirm that everyone's in vacuum suits, because I'm going to start cutting you out."

"Chief… Chief engineer. Everyone should be in sealed suits, but they can only repair so much damage. If they're holed-."

Well, good to see someone of authority is still alive. They can handle getting who they can moving.

"Oh, I'm sure that the blood coating the punctures will make a seal when it freezes." I create a crumbler cutting tool and aim at the closest section with survivors in it. "Cutting now. If you are able to encourage survivors to congregate in easily accessible locations, please do so."

This first section is already depressurised, and widening the hull so I can get in is simple. Looks like this was an engineering passageway, as there's no one in here and it just connects to the inner side of the turrets. Bulkhead door is that way, and there are living people in there. I generate a construct door to maintain internal pressure and then crumble the pre-existing door.

Since despite what the Chief Engineer said, there's no guarantee they've got atmosphere or survival suits...

A Reach marine points a… Plasma gun at me, but maintains discipline and lowers it a moment later. The other two.. appear to be engineers. Their suits have some minor damage but I can't see any breaches, and scans of the reachians themselves show no serious injuries. I attach environmental shield to each of them.

"I'll be picking everyone up and flying them to the internment facility on Minosyss. If any of you are wearing power ring-deflecting technology or have such technology active in your part of the ship, I encourage you to deactivate it as it may prevent me shielding you from vacuum or noticing that you are injured. Do you understand?"

...Yeah, that might be a bit awkward. Though I doubt tech like that would be in the hands of the common crewmembers...

"Yes." / "Yes" / "I understand."

"Good show. Attacks upon my person will result in me destroying this ship and killing everyone on board, so if anyone looks like they're going to pick a fight with me, I encourage those around them to smack them over the head with a brick."

Sock optional.

"Um, the next section is-."

I crumble my way into the next section, letting the highly energised plasma flail at my construct barrier as I fire a cold gun construct at it to de-energise it. A few organic remains here but no one I can save. The largest concentration of survivors is along this corridor and down a little.

Ah, there's the incineration I mentioned. Bet there's a few spots like that.

Good. Safe. I send filaments ahead, patching things so that nothing explodes or overloads while we're on board.

Now I have to work out what we're going to do about Grayven himself.

Yes, he's proving to be something of a 300-pound gorilla in all this...

So, fight's over, OL has gotten prisoners and some awesome loot, and it's all done bar the cleanup. Some of which may need a mop. The matter of Grayven, though... Hopefully the memories of the assimilated New Ascendant can provide some insight on his character and temperament. Something to let OL get some advantage in any diplomatic discussions they might end up having.

Vaermina · Dec 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
Now I have to work out what we're going to do about Grayven himself.

Dude. You got your ass kicked by a New God a lot less powerful then Grayven less then a day ago.

Ngamer11 · Dec 12, 2022

Vaermina said:
Dude. You got your ass kicked by a New God a lot less powerful then Grayven less then a day ago.

Finality Man should be stronger than normal New Gods. This is assuming it is still related to Drax.

Signaller · Dec 12, 2022

What's the population of a ship like that, before and after casualties? Are we talking hundreds or thousands, and/or how does it contrast to those marooned Gordanians from a while back?

Vaermina · Dec 12, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Finality Man should be stronger than normal New Gods. This is assuming it is still related to Drax.

No, I was talking about the New New God guy with the tiny tiny piece of Darkseid in him.

Ngamer11 · Dec 12, 2022

Vaermina said:
No, I was talking about the New New God guy with the tiny tiny piece of Darkseid in him.

Pretty sure anybody who has a little of Darkseid in them can kick the butt of everyone who isn't stupidly powerful. Or hasn't taken any special anti-Darkseid precautions.

BR549 · Dec 12, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
I just assimilate this ship and its master.

'assimilated', I think, belongs here.

Stsword · Dec 12, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Finality Man should be stronger than normal New Gods. This is assuming it is still related to Drax.

Unless Heggra cuckolded Yuga Khan with Megatron I suspect that Drax is not a robot in this continuity.

Not 100% certain mind you.

But Infinite Man's gestalt nature would make him more powerful than a regular New God regardless of having a direct pipeline to the Source.

For example one time in the comics Impulse joined the gestalt.

Mr Zoat · Dec 12, 2022

BR549 said:
'assimilated', I think, belongs here.

Thank you, corrected.

Darko · Dec 12, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
Pretty sure anybody who has a little of Darkseid in them can kick the butt of everyone who isn't stupidly powerful. Or hasn't taken any special anti-Darkseid precautions.

Plus Paul had a lot of reasons to not go full out with his power.

For example, he didn't bond with the Ophidian because that had the risk of Manheim infecting her with Anti-Life.

He also may not have used extremely powerful constructs of techniques because they could have damaged the planet.

Grayven doesn't seem to have Anti-Life and the battle may take place in space.

Vaermina · Dec 12, 2022

Darko said:
Grayven doesn't seem to have Anti-Life and the battle may take place in space.

We know from Renegade side that Grayven does in fact have a portion of Anti-Life and the Omega Force.

Ngamer11 · Dec 12, 2022

Vaermina said:
We know from Renegade side that Grayven does in fact have a portion of Anti-Life and the Omega Force.

When was that revealed? Because I don't remember that.

Coda · Dec 13, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
When was that revealed? Because I don't remember that.

Grayven using the Omega Force: https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-75#post-2877462

I'm not sure if it was established that the real Grayven-16 has any Anti-Life Equation fragments, but it would seem a little bit strange that Darkseid would give that gift to the Renegade but not the real Grayven.

EDIT: Never mind, found it. https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-75#post-2870818 real!Grayven-16 knows "life=pain".

Ngamer11 · Dec 13, 2022

Coda said:
Grayven using the Omega Force: https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-75#post-2877462

I'm not sure if it was established that the real Grayven-16 has any Anti-Life Equation fragments, but it would seem a little bit strange that Darkseid would give that gift to the Renegade but not the real Grayven.

EDIT: Never mind, found it. https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-75#post-2870818 real!Grayven-16 knows "life=pain".

That was Grayven 50, who comes from a universe where Darkseid's dead and isn't preventing anyone from accessing that parts of the Anti-Life Equation in his possession. And Grayven 50 merely recognized the Anti-Life Equation part in the Renegade's possession, he never had one of his own. Is there any evidence that Grayven 16 either can fire omega beams or had his own fragment if the Anti-Life Equation in his possession?

Coda · Dec 13, 2022

Ngamer11 said:
That was Grayven 50, who comes from a universe where Darkseid's dead and isn't preventing anyone from accessing that parts of the Anti-Life Equation in his possession. And Grayven 50 merely recognized the Anti-Life Equation part in the Renegade's possession, he never had one of his own. Is there any evidence that Grayven 16 either can fire omega beams or had his own fragment if the Anti-Life Equation in his possession?

Oh right, wrong segment.

https://forum.questionablequesting....stice-si-story-only.8961/page-98#post-4632842 This is the one I was looking for -- this one IS Grayven-16 using the Omega Force.

But it does seem you're right, there's no concrete evidence that Grayven-16 had an Anti-Life fragment before the merger with the Renegade.

Mr Zoat · Dec 13, 2022

Earth 534834

8th February 1992
10:28 GMT -6

"Now, okay,-"

There's a whum sound as the steel girder flies past me-

"-I can see-"

-and a screech as it twists and doubles back, attempting to envelop me. I drop down beneath it, creating a bat construct and knocking it for six.

"-that you're not pleased-"

Shots of rebar come flying at me next, and I briefly consider that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned railguns last time we met. He just seemed so put out that Professor Xavier hadn't turned up that I thought it might… Jolly him up a little.

"-to see me, but-."

From behind his full face helmet which now includes a gas mask, Erik Lehnsherr glares at me.

"I will do to you what your forebears once did to the Neanderthals."

…

That-. Agh! Okay, he distracted me enough that he managed a glancing hit. Guess he hasn't quite got the hang of aiming with his new technique yet.

"Look, I'm sure you're a smashing bloke, but unless your mutation covers a lot more than magnetism that just isn't possible."

"The extermination of man will not be a swift endeavour, but it will come. History is on our side."

Hang on, I'm in the nineties. Even with all the advanced technology that didn't exist in my nineties, do they not-?

"The modern European man is descended from the interbreeding of neanderthalensis and sapiens. We've both got neanderthalensis genes in us." I smile. "And… While you're a… Perfectly presentable man… For your age… I'm seeing-"

I shoot upwards in the air to evade a large sheet of scrap metal that zooms past me.

"-someone? Ah, Anne-Marie? Rogue? With the green and yellow bodysui-?"

"I remember."

I nod, grinning. "Pretty memorable, isn't it?"

He stops attacking, moving his projectiles into an orbit around both me and him. "If a handful of genes are all that remains of their people, then there is little difference between this and utter extermination. If you marry Rogue, then in all likelihood your children will be mutants."

"Could well be. Honestly, I like the idea of my children having superpowers. Sure, some things -like Anne-Marie's power- can create… Problems, but I'm sure that we can work through it. Pax?"

"What does Charles want with me?"

"An open, honest and peaceful exchange of views, leading to an agreement concerning the utility and legitimacy of violence in the civil rights struggle and the opening of an ongoing channel of communication."

"And he sent you?"

"No, I'm here for completely different reasons. He doesn't-. I mean, he could be tracking us on Cerebro or something, but I didn't tell him."

Except that Cerebro is designed to find x-gene mutants and Mr. Lensherr's helmet protects him against that sort of thing. Which.. means that he doesn't know where we are. That wasn't clever of me.

"Then why are you here?"

"Did you see the adverts for Genosha?" I think he nods. The helmet makes it a little hard to tell. "Long story short, it was a trap to lure in people with super powers there for them to enslave." Several pieces of metal crumple. "Not sure if it would have worked, because I don't think other countries would tolerate them doing that to their citizens, but the X-Men dealt with it anyway. So there are a lot of mutants who don't really have anywhere else to go on the island, and… I was just wondering if you wanted to take a look at the place? See if you can make separate but equal work? There's a bit of a leadership vacuum at the moment."

"A homeland for mutants. I had considered the idea before."

"Ah… More a place of refuge for people with the x-gene in places where they're being oppressed. I mean… I know that having a homeland for Jews hasn't exactly encouraged peace and good will since World War Two, but-."

"Given that Senator Kelly intends to place all mutants in America in internment camps should he win the next presidential election, we may need it sooner than later."

"You.. do realise that even if he gets elected, he wouldn't have the authority to do that, right? It would be completely unconstitutional. Whether people with the x-gene are treated like other people with super powers or as a new species of human, there's no legal grounds-."

"You will find that means very little when people are afraid."

I smile. "Good show! As a British person, I thoroughly look forward to seeing Americans take up arms against a tyrannous government that isn't mine."

"You would fight your own kind?"

"Sometimes, in the face of evil, you have to plead the second. The United States has a constitution that guarantees its citizens certain consideration. If that's ignored, then there's no reason for the citizens to take any notice of any of the laws empowering the people who violate it. And this time I'm not letting the Canadians have all the fun."

"Then why not deal with him before the election?"

"Because at the moment all he's done is be a mouthy git, and that's not worth killing someone over. Even if he tries to pass those laws, I'm not going to condemn the whole system unless it actually gets approved."

"And when it does?"

"They can take Anne-Marie to an interment camp over my cold dead body. Ah, before we drown in negativity, I… Did have something else I wanted to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"It's… It's a bit awkward. I… None of my friends are married. In fact, you're the only person I've exchanged more than a few sentences with who even.. was-."

"Are you-? Coming to me for marital advice?"

"You have three children. Presumably, you did something right."

The floating pieces of metal stop.

"Three-. What are you talking about? I only have one child, and I sired her for the purpose of creating a strong mutant. My relationship with her mother was purely transactional."

What? Does he not-?

Oh, sugar. I guess… That hasn't happened yet. As far as I know, neither Pietro nor Wanda Maximoff were ever members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, so-. Oh, he didn't know.

"Ah. Congratulations?"

"How could you possibly know-?"

"The ring can scan genes. I don't even need a blood sample. Ah. I didn't-. I've no idea what Magda Lensherr's genes look like, but there are two mutants in Europe who have half your DNA. Sorry, I didn't realise that you didn't know."

He considers that for several moments.

"How old are they?"

"About twenty?"

"That would-." Pieces of metal start dropping out of the air as distraction takes hold. "If-."

He turns away, waving his right arm.

"Leave me. I must consider what you have said."

Well. Cheaper than Mr. Creed, at least.

TodaBruh · Dec 13, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"Leave me. I must consider what you have said."

This guy is a walking talking confusion generator.

Citizen · Dec 13, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
neither Pietro nor Wander Maximoff

Wanda, I presume?

Bloodalchemy · Dec 13, 2022

Citizen said:
Wanda, I presume?

She wanders the world so much, her name has gone wandering to.

PrinceJonathan · Dec 13, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"A homeland for mutants. I had considered the idea before."

I said this once, I'll say it again. This dude made Asteroid M without anyone noticing. Why couldn't he just use it as a launching point to colonize the rest of the Solar System? Form a sort of underground railroad to get mutants off Earth, and then send them to Mars and call it Planet M. Leave Earth and its constant conflict with normal humans behind.

Let humanity fight and squabble over a ball of dirt all they want while Magneto and the rest of his mutants conquer the stars. By the time humanity gets its collective shit together and steps out onto the galactic stage, they won't even be able to find a place at the table because mutants got there first and humanity is considered a laughing stock.

Bloodalchemy · Dec 13, 2022

Magneto: but that would mean I can't kill innocent people to pay for the sins of a few idiots.

Chojin Patriarch · Dec 13, 2022

(Delayed somewhat by a storm-induced blackout down my way...)

Mr Zoat said:
Earth 534834

8th February 1992
10:28 GMT -6

"Now, okay,-"

There's a whum sound as the steel girder flies past me-

Ah, Lantern and Magneto? There's an interesting combination of characters. Though I expect Magnus' tolerance of non-mutant supers isn't much higher than his tolerance of regular humans. Which is amusing, given the times he's appeared in other heroes' shows...

"-I can see-"

-and a screech as it twists and doubles back, attempting to envelop me. I drop down beneath it, creating a bat construct and knocking it for six.

The fun of dealing with someone who has an almost instinctive control of their power, and a very large radius of effect.

"-that you're not pleased-"

Shots of rebar come flying at me next, and I briefly consider that maybe I shouldn't have mentioned railguns last time we met. He just seemed so put out that Professor Xavier hadn't turned up that I thought it might… Jolly him up a little.

...Rail Guns.

It's your own fault, Lantern.

"-to see me, but-."

From behind is full face helmet which now includes a gas mask, Erik Lehnsherr glares at me.

Ha! I bet he made that change after said previous encounter with Lantern.

"I will do to you what your forebears once did to the Neanderthals."

…

Okay, have you ever actually read a history book more modern than, say, 1960, Maggie?

That-. Agh! Okay, he distracted me enough that he managed a glancing hit. Guess he hasn't quite got the hang of aiming with his new technique yet.

"Look, I'm sure you're a smashing bloke, but unless your mutation covers a lot more than magnetism that just isn't possible."

And he's pulled some crazy applications of that out of his ass before. So it's not unbelievable.

"The extermination of man will not be a swift endeavour, but it will come. History is on our side."

Hang on, I'm in the nineties. Even with all the advanced technology that didn't exist in my nineties, do they not-?

Hell, Doctor Doom has a goddamn Time Machine. If he wasn't so focused on stroking his ego and messing with Richards!!, just imagine how he could contribute to historical studies.

"The modern European man is descended from the interbreeding of Neanderthalis and Sapiens. We've both got Neanderthalis genes in us." I smile. "And… While you're a… Perfectly presentable man… For you age… I'm seeing-"

I shoot upwards in the air to evade a large sheet of scrap metal that zooms past me.

Which is quite a bit younger-looking than his canonical age of... 65-ish? 75 or so? Mutants age damn well.

"-someone? Ah, Anne-Marie? Rogue? With the green and yellow bodysui-?"

"I remember."

I nod, grinning. "Pretty memorable, isn't it?"

That it is.

Let's not speak about the romantic teasing between Magneto and Rogue in the comics...

He stops attacking, moving his projectiles into an orbit around both me and him. "If a handful of genes are all that remains of their people, then there is little difference between this and utter extermination. If you marry Rogue, then in all likelihood your children will be mutants."

"Could well be. Honestly, I like the idea of my children having superpowers. Sure, some things -like Anne-Marie's power- can create… Problems, but I'm sure that we can work through it. Pax?"

Honestly, that seems like a fun way to conquer humanity. Fuck super-powered punch fights. Just swan around all smoking hot in that skin-tight spandex and watch the men and women drool...

"What does Charles want with me?"

"An open, honest and peaceful exchange of views, leading to an agreement concerning the utility and legitimacy of violence in the civil rights struggle and the opening of an ongoing channel of communication."

Wouldn't that be a butterfly? Xavier and Magneto working together again.

"And he sent you?"

"No, I'm here for completely different reasons. He doesn't-. I mean, he could be tracking us on Cerebro or something, but I didn't tell him."

Not unless he's added a search mode for 'exotic emotional energy signatures' to Cerebro's sensors.

Except that Cerebro is designed to find x-gene mutants and Mr. Lensherr's helmet protects him against that sort of thing. Which.. means that he doesn't know where we are. That wasn't clever of me.

"Then why are you here?"

Honestly, if you got into more trouble than you could handle, it's not all that hard to leave. Not much can pin a Lantern down when they want to go somewhere...

"Did you see the adverts for Genosha?" I think he nods. The helmet makes it a little hard to tell. "Long story short, it was a trap to lure in people with super powers there for them to enslave." Several pieces of metal crumple. "Not sure if it would have worked, because I don't think other countries would tolerate them doing that to their citizens, but the X-Men dealt with it anyway. So there are a lot of mutants who don't really have anywhere else to go on the island, and… I was just wondering if you wanted to take a look at the place? See if you can make separate but equal work? There's a bit of a leadership vacuum at the moment."

And as noted before, it wouldn't be the first time he's ruled Genosha, or made a safe homeland for mutant-kind. Though all those occurrences never seem to end well. Either he fouls it up by being all Super-Villainy about it, or someone else ends up doing it.

"A homeland for mutants. I had considered the idea before."

"Ah… More a place of refuge for people with the x-gene in places where they're being oppressed. I mean… I know that having a homeland for Jews hasn't exactly encouraged peace and good will since World War Two, but-."

Old politics... But that's mostly because the European powers and America stuck their beak into the Middle East again.

And we all know how well that always goes...

"Given that Senator Kelly intends to place all mutants in America in internment camps should he win the next presidential election, we may need it sooner than later."

"You.. do realise that even if he gets elected, he wouldn't have the authority to do that, right? It would be completely unconstitutional. Whether people with the x-gene are treated like other people with super powers or as a new species of human, there's no legal grounds-."

Now see, there's an issue with that.

Mostly 'writers can't get politics right...' But in this universe, there's bound to be all manner of antagonising factors...

"You will find that means very little when people are afraid."

I smile. "Good show! As a British person, I thoroughly look forward to seeing Americans take up arms against a tyrannous government that isn't mine."

Hey, they only did that once...

Didn't they? ...Oh, right.

"You would fight your own kind?"

"Sometimes, in the face of evil, you have to plead the second. The United States has a constitution that guarantees its citizens certain consideration. If that's ignored, then there's no reason for the citizens to take any notice of any of the laws empowering the people who violate it. And this time I'm not letting the Canadians have all the fun."

To be fair, it probably was a hell of a time... A young nation still trying to find its footing, while swinging its big stick trying to establish an international reputation... Of course someone's gonna take exception that that.

"Then why not deal with him before the election?"

"Because at the moment all he's done is be a mouthy git, and that's not worth killing someone over. Even if he tries to pass those laws, I'm not going to condemn the whole system unless it actually gets approved."

Free speech, after all. You can say what you like, but that doesn't stop someone else from having their say in response.

Though if they do it violently, well...

"And when it does?"

"They can take Anne-Marie to an interment camp over my cold dead body. Ah, before we drown in negativity, I… Did have something else I wanted to talk to you about."

Lucky Magneto had calmed down. If his ring had blinked off like that during the initial exchange of greetings...

"What is it?"

"It's… It's a bit awkward. I… None of my friends are married. In fact, the only person I've exchanged more than a few sentences with who even.. was-."

Sadly, the super-hero community of the Marvel universe isn't as interconnected as the DC universe is.

"Are you-? Coming to me for marital advice?"

"You have three children. Presumably, you did something right."

...Technically, four. But the one you're not counting is probably something of a sore spot for Maggie, even today...

The floating pieces of metal stop.

"Three-. What are you talking about? I only have one child, and I sired her for the purpose of creating a strong mutant. My relationship with her mother was purely transactional."

Not that that's stopped the comics flip-flopping on that fact for decades...

What? Does he not-?

Oh, sugar. I guess… That hasn't happened yet. As far as I know, neither Pietro nor Wander Maximoff were ever members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, so-. Oh, he didn't know.

...Let's hope he doesn't come on too strong when he goes looking for them. Especially Wanda, if she's working with Tony Stark right now...

"Ah. Congratulations?"

"How could you possibly know-?"

Ah, if only he'd coined his catchphrase here. Say it with me: 'Power Rings are awesome.'

"The ring can scan genes. I don't even need a blood sample. Ah. I didn't-. I've no idea what Magda Lensherr's genes look like, but there are two mutants in Europe who have half your DNA. Sorry, I didn't realise that you didn't know."

He considers that for several moments.

Ah, so Wanda hasn't joined Force Works yet. (And what is with that name? Seriously, 90's...)

"How old are they?"

"About twenty?"

A bit older than they were in the comics when Magneto met them, if I remember right... It wasn't really declared outright, after all...

"That would-." Pieces of metal start dropping out of the air as distraction takes hold. "If-."

He turns away, waving his right arm.

Heh. Bit of a mood, learning you have kids you didn't know about out there...

"Leave me. I must consider what you have said."

Well. Cheaper than Mr. Creed, at least.

To be fair, you won't know if he'll stay bought until the wedding...

What a juxtaposition between plotlines. OL getting embroiled in messy diplomatic stuff... While Lantern here is trying to navigate the minefield of super-heroic romance.

And honestly, I don't know which I prefer more. Lantern's probably causing more butterflies than anyone could predict, though... I shudder to imagine what Cable is thinking.

From behind is full face helmet...

From behind his full face helmet...

Perfectly presentable man… For you age… I'm seeing-"

Perfectly presentable man… For your age… I'm seeing-"

Oglymogly · Dec 13, 2022

I am enjoying this story line, thank you for the update!

Bud-E · Dec 13, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
From behind is full face helmet which now includes a gas mask, Erik Lehnsherr glares at me.

I'm guessing this Paul used some type of sleeping gas last time he met Mags.

BR549 · Dec 13, 2022

Chojin Patriarch said:
I shudder to imagine what Cable is thinking.

I suspect this is a good representation of Cable right...about...now.

Doccer · Dec 13, 2022

Mr Zoat said:
"You will find that means very little when people are afraid."

Good thing the Senator has such a big scary mutant that kills people for reasons he dislikes and he can point to to keep his constituents paralyzed with fear isn't it? I mean can you imagine how far he would get if he didn't have you Maggie?

With This Ring (Young Justice SI) (Thread Fourteen)

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